Garcia's burden here is doubly demanding: Because Garcia seeks a mandatory injunction, she must establish that the law and facts clearly favor her position, not simply that she is likely to succeed.
Why? Garcia's requested injunction required Google to take affirmative action—to remove (and to keep removing) Innocence of Muslims from YouTube and other sites under its auspices, whenever and by whomever the film was uploaded. This relief is treated as a mandatory injunction, because it "orders a responsible party to 'take action.'" Marlyn Nutraceuticals, Inc. v. Mucos Pharma GmbH & Co., 571 F.3d 873, 879 (9th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). As we have cautioned, a mandatory injunction "goes well beyond simply maintaining the status quo pendente lite [and] is particularly disfavored."[1] Stanley v. Univ. of S. Cal., 13 F.3d 1313, 1320 (9th Cir. 1994) (internal citations omitted)). The "district court should deny such relief 'unless the facts and law clearly favor the moving party.'" Id. (quoting Anderson v. United States, 612 F.2d 1112, 1114 (9th Cir.1979)). In plain terms, mandatory injunctions should not issue in "doubtful cases." Park Vill. Apartment Tenants Ass'n v. Mortimer Howard Trust, 636 F.3d 1150, 1160 (9th Cir. 2011).
As we shall see, the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that Garcia was not likely to succeed on her copyright claim—much less that the law and facts
- ↑ "The status quo means the last, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy." N.D. ex rel. Parents v. Haw. Dep't of Educ., 600 F.3d 1104, 1112 n.6 (9th Cir. 2010) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). The status quo preceding this litigation was that Innocence of Muslims was uploaded to and available for viewing on YouTube. The preliminary injunction issued by the panel majority disrupted that status quo by ordering Google to remove the film.
